Handling group booking requests and confirmations

Purpose

1.1. Automate the entire lifecycle of group booking requests for Cantabrian restaurants – from intake, validation, staff notification, calendar blocking, customer response, to confirmation and message delivery through multi-channel workflows.
1.2. Streamline automatable and repetitive reservation communications and confirmations to improve customer experience, accuracy, and reduce manual workload.
1.3. Centralize group reservation handling across all digital channels for ensuring no double-bookings or lost requests.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. Online web form submission for group booking request.
2.2. Inbound email with specified keywords (e.g., “group booking,” “reservation for 10+”).
2.3. Direct message via social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp).
2.4. Manual staff input in POS or reservation management system.
2.5. Inbound voicemails transcribed via telephony platform and flagged for booking.
2.6. API webhook from third-party event partners sending group inquiry data.

Platform Variants

3.1. Twilio SMS
• Feature/Setting: Automate SMS notifications to staff; configure via Programmable Messaging, setting up event triggers for booking-intake keywords.
3.2. SendGrid
• Feature/Setting: Automate booking confirmation emails; configure via Mail Send API, dynamic templates for reservation details.
3.3. Gmail API
• Feature/Setting: Automate inbound booking request parsing; configure watch on reservation inbox, use filters for group keywords.
3.4. Google Calendar API
• Feature/Setting: Automate calendar event creation/blocking; Events.insert endpoint, auto-fill based on parsed group size/date.
3.5. Slack
• Feature/Setting: Automate staff alerts; Incoming Webhooks, send reservation details to #bookings channel.
3.6. Microsoft Teams
• Feature/Setting: Automate group booking notifications; configure with Connector/API for automated card posting.
3.7. WhatsApp Business API
• Feature/Setting: Automate direct confirmations; template message dispatch post booking verification.
3.8. Facebook Messenger API
• Feature/Setting: Automate intake and response; webhook for triggers, Send API for auto-replies with pre-configured reservation options.
3.9. HubSpot
• Feature/Setting: Automate CRM record creation from group bookings; Workflow automation triggered on form or email conversion.
3.10. Salesforce
• Feature/Setting: Automate case/opportunity creation for each new group booking; Flow builder automation on lead or web-to-case form.
3.11. Zoho CRM
• Feature/Setting: Automate lead enrichment; workflow rules for webform submissions and follow-up task creation.
3.12. OpenTable
• Feature/Setting: Automate group reservation slot holding; use OpenTable API to submit reservations and track status.
3.13. Wix Bookings
• Feature/Setting: Automate reservation intake and update; configure Bookings API for event arrivals.
3.14. Calendly
• Feature/Setting: Automate group scheduling links to customers; use Scheduled Events webhook for processing new reservations at scale.
3.15. Zapier
• Feature/Setting: Automate workflow logic; use Zaps to chain booking request, keyword detection, and channel follow-up.
3.16. Airtable
• Feature/Setting: Automate group booking logging and dashboard updates; configure Automations for record creation/edit.
3.17. Monday.com
• Feature/Setting: Automate reservation workflow status updates; Board automations, triggered by status change form submissions.
3.18. Typeform
• Feature/Setting: Automate web form to notification pipeline; On submission, webhook to automator flow for data ingestion.
3.19. Outlook 365
• Feature/Setting: Automate booking calendar blocking and notifications; use Power Automate integration, bookings sync, and auto-response.
3.20. Trello
• Feature/Setting: Automate board card creation for each group booking; use incoming webhooks and Butler automations for card lifecycle.
3.21. Mailchimp
• Feature/Setting: Automate segmented campaign to group booking guests; configure automated email series post-confirmation.
3.22. DocuSign
• Feature/Setting: Automate sending group event agreements/contracts; trigger from final booking record for automated delivery.

Benefits

4.1. Automates the tedious intake and follow-up on high-value group bookings.
4.2. Greatly reduces booking errors and double-bookings via automated calendar sync and instant confirmations.
4.3. Automates omnichannel communication to meet guests where they inquire (email, SMS, social, website).
4.4. Allows for scalable reservation automating during event seasons or peak hours.
4.5. Free staff from manual, repeatable tasks allowing for higher-value, customer-focused engagement.
4.6. Enhances guest satisfaction through speedy, consistent, and automatedly accurate responses.
4.7. Increases conversion rates of group booking requests via immediate, automated touchpoints.
4.8. Unifies automatable reservation data for insights and CRM enrichment.